While many are taking their annual summer vacations, media, policymakers and academics aren’t taking a break when it comes to drug pricing. Given the looming November presidential election, this isn’t unexpected. Here are a few notable pieces in mass media and top-tier outlets in the last month.
NYT Reporters Aim to Shine Light on PBM Opacity
“The Middlemen: The Opague Industry Secretly Inflating Pricing for Prescription Drugs” –
Unlike the other pieces highlighted here, this New York Times June 21st feature article takes aim at the PBMs rather than manufacturers. The punch line is that PBMs are supposed to reduce drug costs, but they frequently do the opposite. This article may help manufacturers explain to broader stakeholders the role of PBMs in drug pricing and affordability.
The NYT reporters, Rebecca Robbins and Reed Abelson, descriptively call PBMs “a collection of powerful forces...” that “operate in the bowels of the healthcare system and cloak themselves in such opacity and complexity that many people don’t even realize they exist.”
Politicians Cite Obesity/Diabesity Drugs as Poster Child for High Drug Prices
On June 24, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced that Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen will be testifying before the HELP committee on September 24th. The hearing will focus on the “outrageously high prices that Novo Nordisk charges Americans for their blockbuster drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy.”
To raise the heat on this issue further, President Biden and Sen. Sanders jointly contributed to a July 2 USA Today op-ed: President Biden: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly must stop ripping off Americans with high drug prices. They strongly criticize US drug prices and vow to further expand drug price negotiation and affordability measures beyond Medicare (seniors). They call out weight loss drugs that cost over $1,000/month that could be profitably manufactured for less than $5/month.
Academics Call for Policy Reform to Lower Orphan Drug Profitability and Prices
Academics from St. Louis University, Hasso Plattner Institute and Duke University co-authored a July 11 Perspective New England Journal of Medicine article entitled “Four Decades of the Orphan Drug Act and Priorities for the Future.” The article suggests that many manufacturers are using the incentives under the Orphan Drug Act (ODA, passed in 1983) to make profits at the expense of consumers. The authors put forth specific reforms (eliminations, scaled or capped ODA incentives).
“Today, manufacturers appear to use rare-disease indications to justify charging steep prices. The median annual cost of an orphan drug was $32,000 in 2019, with more than one third of orphan drugs costing more than $100,000 per year.”
Implications for drug manufacturers
- Anticipate and prepare for questions related to the price of medicines.
- Continue to share evidence that substantiates the holistic value of your medicines.
- Collaborate with like-minded organizations (professional societies, patient advocacy groups) who can add their voice around the potential unintended consequences of (orphan drug) policy reforms.
